My Own Journey, Part 3: I Want My Rights!

 Wow, folks. Time sure flies when you're having fun, what?

Okay, I got so wrapped up in things I haven't had time to continue my story.

Bear in mind, this isn't about me; it's about you and choices you have of which you may not know.

This week, let's talk about rights.

In my day job, I have to be acutely aware of Federal Aviation Regulations: What they mean, how they intersect, how they apply to keeping passengers and crew safe in the air at all times. And what I have found over 40 years of experience is this: If you know what to look for, the whole mess clears up quite nicely.

What I see a lot of vanity and hybrid publishers sell is this: "Keep your rights!" This is how they get you hooked into their scams. You get to keep 100% of your rights.

Let's looks at that for a moment. There are different kinds of rights to talk about:

Copyright:

This is created from the moment you put words to screen, or paper, or however you choose to write. This is yours, period, unless you specifically sell it, which is stupid. You, as the creator, own copyright until 70 years after your death. Period. Copyright means using any direct quote from your story, or using your characters from your story. No one can do anything with those without your permission. Of course, there is "Fair Use." But let's stick with the basics.

Publishing Rights:

This is what your are negotiating with your publisher. The contract you may (or may not) sign is for PUBISHING RIGHTS, not copyright. Remember, you own the copyright.

Publishing rights would include:

1. eBook publishing rights. The right to publish your work in eBook format, may it be Nook or Kindle, or anything of that sort in any electronic format.
2. Print publishing rights. This is publishing in paperback, or hardback editions. Each type gets its own rights, plus its own ISBN.
3. Foreign Language rights: This would be your work in any foreign language, whether it be French, Swahili, German, or Eastern Slobovian. It doean't matter. Each language must be specified. Each gets its own ISBN, and its own negotiable rights.
4. Movie rights: This is your golden ticket, if you agree to let Hollywood butcher your story. I've heard of contracts that were signed, cash handed over, and the project shelved. Just to have someone else pick up the ball five years later. Another contract is signed, money paid, and the project shelved again. This can go on indefinitely, with a copyright holder getting paid multiple times before the movie is actually made. New contract, new paycheck.

Let's look at copyright a little closer: According to the US copyright office, ideas are not protected by copyright. Stories are protected.

Let's say you submit your Fantasy Romance Thriller Science-Fiction Suspense Detective novel on a critique website for polishing. Someone says, "Hey, I like that idea! I'm going to take it!"

Their story will not be your story. It may be your plot, your storyline. But they will most certainly not tell it in your voice, with your style. It's NOT THE SAME STORY. Do you see?

Your copyright is your copyright. It's the right that is reserved to you alone, for the story you tell. All other rights are negotiable.

But NEVER sign away your copyright.

Okay?

My Own Journey, Part 2

 Okay, so, in Part 1 I gave you kind of an overview of my whole journey from "Wow, this would make a cool story!" to  "Hey, I just received an award for Best Thriller!"

So now, let's bust it down into chunks, and I'll do my best to support each step with something that I learned.

I already shared the book I discovered at the company Little Free Library: "Manuscript Submission" by Scott Edelstein.

I followed Scott's instructions and started submitting my manuscript. I wanted to go "traditional," or what I like to call "Contract Publishing." I also thought I could do well without an agent. This trade-off is also covered in Scott's book. Agents get 15% as a standard, off the profit of a book. Anyone who wants more than that is a coon artist. Just a side note. Anyway, I decided not to option an agent.  Whether that was a good choice or a bad choice remains a mystery.

After about twenty rejections from publishing houses, I changed my mind and started querying agents. And got about another twenty rejections. All form rejections: "After a careful review, we have decided your manuscript is not for us at this time. We wish you luck in your future endeavors."

Oh, believe me, I took all these very personally. It damaged my ego to the pint I was wondering if there was anything I could do to please these people. I actually started to get depressed (even more than usual, but that's another story). 

But something inside told me not to quit. So I started digging in even harder. And that's when my first acceptance latter came, from Whitmore Publishing. They billed themselves as a Christian-run company, and that appealed to me. I figured they would operate as a company with integrity and honesty. Little did I know. They sent me a contract to sign, in which they offered me their deal, and all it would cost me was three thousand dollars.

Yay. Three grand. Now, if only I had three grand to spend.

You know that little voice inside that says, "Wait. Something is wrong with this picture?" Well, that little voice was screeching in my ear. And I did a little more digging. Now, this was back in the days of dial-up internet. Some of you remember dial-up. You had to hijack the phone lines, and the Internet was known as "The World-Wide Wait." Oh, dude.

Anyway, I found the website for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America website. I probably mentioned that to you before. They had a template for a contract on one of their writer's help pages. Guess what that template did NOT include? Payment for publishing. It said the publisher pays YOU. 

The Publisher Pays YOU.

Boom. Okay, run away from Whitmore.

Another thing the SFWA gave me was a referral to a critique website, where I could have other writers look at my work and help refine it. And here I thought all I wrote was supposed to stay secret until I unleashed it on the world. So what was this website? None other than Critique Circle dot com. Basic membership was (and still is) free. Other levels of membership do have fees, but I'm telling you here and now those extras are worth every penny if you use them. And no, they don't pay me to send people over there. I just believe in their model.

I ran my whole manuscript through the mill over there, and the first thing I had to do from there was develop a thick skin. People help each other, with the qualification that they don't pull their punches. The thing is, in the abundance of counsel, there is much wisdom. I had about a dozen steady critique partners who stuck with me, and we helped each other with ideas, corrections, and advice. Many of them are successful authors. Other members are actually professional editors, and some are publishers. It's a great place to make contacts.

And in writing, contacts are life.

After I reworked my manuscript, I started submitting again. Got about a dozen more rejections, and I told My partners in one of the discussion threads that I was done. I just wanted to quit. My wife even told me, "Maybe God is just testing you, to see if you'll obey him. Maybe he wants you to quit and go on to something else." That's an easy pill to swallow, after endless  rejection notices. Anyway, one of my crit partners came back at me with a not-so-gentle "Don't you F***ing DARE quit!"

The next submission came back from a small house in Montreal, where the email read, "We love your story and your voice. Please review the attached contract, sign, and return it to us."

I did read this contract, very carefully. I compared it to the template contract on the SFWA website, and though it was a different business model, it fit all the tick boxes.

And that's how I received my first REAL acceptance.

We'll talk about more in future installments.

The take-away I want you to leave with today is that you need to develop a very thick skin in a highly competitive industry, in order to maintain your sanity. Not everything is personal.

Drop your comments, and let's talk.